India says would look into 'specific' info on Sikh leader's killing in Canada

By Shuriah Niazi

NEW DELHI (AA) - India’s Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar on Tuesday said New Delhi has told Canada it would look into any "specific" information it provides on the killing of Sikh community leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

Nijjar was shot dead on June 18 in Surrey, Canada’s westernmost province of British Columbia, in front of a Sikh temple.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said last week Canada had credible intelligence linking Indian agents to the murder, prompting an angry reaction from New Delhi. It denied the allegation as “absurd” and stopped issuing visas to Canadian citizens due to "security threats."

Asked about the allegations at a Council on Foreign Relations event in New York, Jaishankar said: “We told the Canadians that this is not the government of India’s policy.

"If you have something specific, if you have something relevant, let us know, we are open to looking at it."

He said "Canada actually has seen a lot of organized crime relating to the secessionist forces, organized crime, violence, extremism. They're all very, very deeply mixed up ... Our diplomats have been threatened, our consulates have been attacked."

He said India has given a "lot of information about organized crime and leadership," relating to the movement for Khalistan, or a separate Sikh homeland.

"There are a large number of extradition requests. There are terrorist leaders who have been identified," Jaishankar said.

The movement peaked in India in the 1980s, but was quelled by force, and most of its leaders are now said to be based in Canada, Australia, and the UK.